In a few words, the chapter consists of the following.
1. God tells Jeremiah to write a book.
2. The book is read to the people.
3. The book is read to the king, King Jehoiakim.
4. The king burns the book.
5. God tells Jeremiah to write the book again. The purpose was for Baruch to read this book to the people at a time when Jeremiah seemed to be banned from the temple.
Once again, we have a situation where the end seems to be near, as at the end of Jeremiah 34, and then we go back a few years to the fourth year of Jehoiakim, Jeremiah 36:1. This would be about 604 B.C. some seventeen years before the fall of Jerusalem.
Halley, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Jeremiah had been prophesying for twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year of Josiah to the fourth year of Jehoiakim.’
Jeremiah is told by God to compose a scroll, a book, incorporating all that God has told him so far, Jeremiah 36:2.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The Jewish rolls, several of which now lie before me, were made of vellum, or of sheep-skins dressed in the half-tanned or Basil manner. These were cut into certain lengths, and those parts were all stitched together, and rolled upon a roller. The matter was written on these skins in columns or pages. Sometimes two rollers are used, that as the matter is read from the roll in the left hand, the reader may coil it on the roller in his right. In this form the Pentateuch is written which is read in the synagogues.’
This first scroll was dictated about 604/605 B.C. This was the year that the Babylonians won a very decisive victory over Egypt. Perhaps this was intended to once again give God’s people a chance to repent, the last hope for them, Jeremiah 36:3. Jeremiah dictated this book to Baruch, Jeremiah 36:4. I guess Baruch was a kind of war correspondent, he was also to act as the prophet’s deputy in taking the scroll to the people.
Jeremiah himself couldn’t do this as he was ‘debarred’ from the temple, Jeremiah 36:5. At the beginning of this chapter we see that he wasn’t yet in prison, So, perhaps he was physically restrained from going or it could be that the people had, had enough of him and his doom messages, so they wouldn’t let him in.
Jeremiah tells Baruch to go to God’s house on a day of fasting and read to the people from the scroll the words of God that he wrote as Jeremiah dictated, Jeremiah 36:6. Baruch is to read them to all the people of Judah who come in from their towns, Jeremiah 36:6. Jeremiah suggests after hearing the words of God, the people will repent, Jeremiah 36:7. And so, Baruch did everything which Jeremiah told him to do. He went to the temple and read God’s Word to the people, Jeremiah 36:8.
We are told that a fast before God was proclaimed for all the people in Jerusalem and the towns round about, Jeremiah 36:9. Some scholars believe that this was done in an effort to show God that they were still behind Him. But an outward show is not what God wants, it’s the inside of a man that has to be right, 1 Samuel 16:7.
We are told where the reading took place, presumably in one of the prominent chambers of the temple, Jeremiah 36:10-12. Scripture doesn’t say that there were two periods for the reading of this lengthy document, so it must have taken the whole of the day of tasting.
The scroll is read in the hearing of the people, Jeremiah 36:13-14, and the genuine nature of the document would be stressed by Baruch, who had written it himself from the dictation of Jeremiah. The officials wanted to know details of how the scroll had been prepared, they even showed friendliness to him by allowing him to be seated, Jeremiah 36:15.
They were all afraid and demonstrated their fear by looking at each other, Jeremiah 36:16. Why were they afraid?
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The words of the prophet alone were enough to make them afraid but they probably also feared that the king would act violently when he heard about the book, Jeremiah 36:16.’
They then wanted Baruch to explain how the dictation took place, Jeremiah 36:17, and Baruch tells them, Jeremiah 36:18. What is evident here is that the officials were concerned for both Baruch and Jeremiah and we see from Jeremiah 36:19, that they advised both Baruch and Jeremiah to go and hide, Jeremiah 26:23.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘They saw that the king would be displeased, and most probably seek their lives and as they believed the prophecy was from God, they wished to save both the prophet and his scribe but they were obliged to inform the king of what they had heard.’
After they put the scroll in the room of Elishama the secretary, they went to the king in the courtyard and reported everything to him, Jeremiah 36:20. The king gets to hear of the words of the scroll, Jeremiah 36:21. As the secretary reads each paragraph so the king takes a scribe’s knife, presumably a kind of penknife, usually used for making and repairing reed pens or cutting papyrus, and cuts out sections of the scroll as they are read and throws them into a burning firepot, Jeremiah 36:22-23. This continued until the scroll was destroyed, Jeremiah 36:23.
Some of the officials and servants in the king’s presence must have had a good laugh at his actions, Jeremiah 36:24. Even though Elnathan, Delaiah and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them, Jeremiah 36:25. Once the king had finished he called for the arrest of Jeremiah and Baruch but they could not be found because God had hidden them, Jeremiah 36:26. God had once again kept His promise to protect the prophet, Jeremiah 1:19.
After the scroll had been burned, Jeremiah 36:27, God told Jeremiah to write another one, Jeremiah 36:28. He also told Jeremiah to tell the king that he would be severely punished for burning this first edition of the book, Jeremiah 36:29. He would lose his throne and his sons could not sit as rulers, Jeremiah 36:30-31 / Jeremiah 22:19.
Didn’t his son, Jehoiachin, reign for three months? 2 Kings 24:8-17. The answer, of course, is ‘yes’, he did but God didn’t recognise it. The statement, therefore, is true, God did not appoint him, nor his family after him. He was dismissed without tribute or respect, which is the worst thing that can happen to a monarch. This signified shame and disgrace. Jehoiakim was taken into captivity, where he was imprisoned until released by Evil Merodach, 2 Kings 24:8-16 / 2 Chronicles 36:9-10.
Jeremiah now takes another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch and as Jeremiah dictated, Baruch wrote on it all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim had burned in the fire and many similar words were added to them, Jeremiah 36:32.